Relationships Between Soil Properties and Leaf Area Index in Beech, Fir and Fir-Beech Stands

Abstract

Leaf area index (LAI) control many ecophysiological processes such as photosynthesis, interception, evapotranspiration and deposition of atmospheric chemicals. LAI is a particularly important ecosystem characteristic, because it is a direct measure of the photosynthetically-active surface area which converts light energy into plant biomass. It should not be surprising that there is a strong relationship between leaf area index and productivity in many terrestrial ecosystems. In this research, leaf area index of different stands (beech, fir and fir-beech) were investigated using the hemispherical photographs. Some soil properties (e.g. texture, pH, organic C, total N and moisture) were also determined. The mean values for LAI were 3.36, 2.94 and 3.96 m(2) m(-2) in the beech, fir and fir-beech stands, respectively. Statistical analyses imply that there is a significant difference (p<0.05) among the leaf area indexes of the tree stand types. LAI showed significant correlation with the soil organic C, moisture and pH. Based on our results, changes of stand type are likely to effects on leaf area index and thereby photosynthesis, interception, evaporation and transpiration process under the same ecological conditions.